Over the past two weeks I have discovered the key to riding! Ok well, not the absolute key but let's just say a key part to developing my seat further. I have always had a problem with hunching my shoulders. When everything is good nice and easy (aka I'm not really riding) then I can sit on the horse with my shoulders back and in great posture, but in the moment when I actually need to stay straight and strong in my upper body, I hunch my shoulders, fall a little bit forward and probably pull on the right rein! But now I have discovered the little area in the upper body known as the sternum. Yes, I know it has always been there but FINALLY I have started to use it! Keeping good posture and sitting straight really has nothing to do with my shoulders, I just have to remember to keep my sternum up and open. Each rib has to be separated! Seriously, it sounds crazy but really this has helped my seat tremendously. The action, motion, swinging movements (whatever you what to call it) of the horse's body has to flow through your seat and be absorbed without collapsing like a ragdoll. I use to try to keep my hips, legs, and seat so steady that I was absorbing all the movement in the upper part of my rib cage, making my sitting trot look like a slow moving wave, peaking right under my shoulder blades. But now that I have started to constantly remind myself of my sternum I have been able to absorb the movements throughout my entire body with the majority of it in the hips. This has made sitting the trot SOOO much easier. When I look in the mirror I really look as it I am finally moving with the horse as opposed to the flapping passenger. Now if I could only figure out how to give an aid at the same moment! Guess I need to save something for next week! Hahaha.
Hope everyone is enjoying some Spring weather!!!
-Meaghan
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